


I Wanna Be Ur Friend

by mightydeafeningmouse



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Soft Ted, emma doesnt know how to comfort people, paul is a good friend, teds got some family issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23379946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mightydeafeningmouse/pseuds/mightydeafeningmouse
Summary: Suddenly, Ted lifts his head. Emma's laughter dies as she meets his glassy, red-rimmed eyes.
Relationships: Emma Perkins & Ted, Paul Matthews & Ted, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 4
Kudos: 67





	I Wanna Be Ur Friend

When Emma arrives at their lunch table, she's surprised to find Ted already there. What's even more surprising is that he's hunched over the table, head in his hands, and he doesn't react to Emma sitting across from him.

Emma's in the middle of considering how pissed Ted'll be if she just pokes him until he acknowledges her when Paul shows up.

"Woah," Paul greets, sliding in the spot next to Emma. He asks Ted, "What time did you go to sleep?" 

"I didn't," Ted mumbles weakly from across the table. Emma snorts loudly at the crack in Ted's voice.

"Damn," she giggles, getting Ted to glance up. "I think your balls forgot to drop today."

Suddenly, Ted lifts his head. Emma's laughter dies as she meets his glassy, red-rimmed eyes.

Paul, like the good friend he is, immediately leans on the table, concern painted on his face. "Are you okay?" 

Ted squirms under Paul's gaze, staying quiet and locking his eyes on his hands. His massive hoodie engulfs him, making it easy for him to shrink into it.

A second of silence passes, and it becomes clear that Ted isn't going to respond.

The moment almost feels sacred, like Emma shouldn't be allowed to see Ted like this. This is definitely uncharted territory, and it leaves Emma clueless to how she should approach Ted.

Emma's known Ted for about a year now, the same amount as Paul, and she's never, _ever_ seen Ted this quiet before. Their friendship is built off of insults and jokes, not this serious emotional crap. As an individual, Emma isn't a touchy-feely, emotional, open person, and neither is Ted, so it feels...strange for her to watch this vulnerable, teary-eyed version of Ted instead of the annoying loud-mouth he always is. 

Emma follows Paul, leaning in closer to their friend. 

"Hey, dickbag," she tries. Her voice is gentle and lacks the familiar bite that's always present whenever she talks to Ted. She meant it more as a term of endearment than an insult, but Ted's shoulders still tense up.

She opens her mouth again, but Paul cuts her off. "Emma, I wouldn't right now," he warns quietly.

Emma's eyes soften and she nods. 

"Ted," Paul says gently, staring at Ted intently. "Did something happen?"

Emma observes his messy, unkempt hair and the deep circles around his eyes. For a moment, she's so thankful Paul is here, because she genuinely is at a loss of how to help her friend.

"Um," his voice breaks, and Emma is hit with a pang of guilt as she watches Ted clear his throat self-consiously. "It's fine. You don't need to worry about it."

Ted tries to brush it off with a tight smile but Paul isn't having it.

"What happened?" Paul asks again. His voice is firm and doesn't leave room for an argument, but it's not unkind.

Ted stares down at the filthy lunch room table and bites his lip. Emma sees his lips moving, but between the loudness of the cafeteria and Ted's soft speaking volume, neither of them heard it.

"What was that?" Paul says patiently.

"My mom came home last night," Ted repeats, fiddling with his hoodie sleeves.

Even though Emma doesn't understand the significance of the sentence, she feels the atmosphere shift as Paul gets even more worried. She watches him put a gentle hand on Ted's forearm.

"Did she-" 

Ted cuts him off, "No."

"...Did _he_ -"

"Not at me."

A tense moment of silence floats by as Paul stares hard at Ted. Emma knows his expression all too well, having been on the receiving end countless times; Paul is trying to figure out if Ted is lying or not. Lying about what, Emma's not sure.

Ted finally looks up and meets Paul's eyes. "Can we not do this in the middle of the fucking cafe?" He says, sounding exhausted. "It's lunch anyway, you guys should eat." 

Paul stared at him for a good couple moments before giving in.

"Fine," he sighs, raking a hand through his hair, "What do you want?"

Ted furrows his eyebrows. "What?" 

"To eat," Paul clarifies, and Ted's already shaking his head. 

"I'm good."

Paul presses, "You need to eat."

"I don't want anything."

"What've you eaten today?"

Ted rolls his eyes, "Not hungry."

"...I'll grab you a granola bar." 

"Paul-," Ted begins, exasperated, but Paul ignores him.

He turns to his girlfriend. "Em?"

"Just - whatever you're having," she answers, giving him a tight lipped smile. Paul returns it before swinging his legs over the bench and walking to the lunch line.

Emma turns her attention back to Ted, who has his head down on top of his folded arms.

Emma starts replaying the conversation in her mind, trying to work out bits and pieces of information, which is hard when she didn't understand any of what Ted was talking about.

Ted said that his mom came home yesterday. Judging by Paul's reaction, Ted's mom was away for awhile. But why would her coming home be a bad thing? Emma knows it's questionable whether or not Ted has the ability to use his heart, but wouldn't he miss his mom if she was away for so long?

In the midst of Emma's theorizing, she notices how rambunctious Ted's hair looks. He doesn't have any product in it today, at least none that Emma sees, so it's just kind of going where it pleases. It actually looks better like that, Emma thinks.

Her eyes trace over a small clump of hair that sticks straight up from the top of Ted's head. Before Emma realizes what she's doing, she absently reaches out and runs her fingers through the clump, straightening it out. 

Before Emma can pull her hand back, satisfied with her work, Ted leans softly into her touch.

This is... _new_.

Hesitantly, Emma cards her fingers through Ted's hair. She feels Ted relax his arms, and she smiles as she hears him let out a soft sigh.

Ted and Emma never deliberately touch, and they're certainly not gentle with each other. But here they are, Ted leaning into Emma's hand while Emma plays with his hair. She'd never admit it to him, but it's really refreshing to not be criticizing each other every minute, even if they are just joking.

She hopes it doesn't take another almost-breakdown for it to happen again. But, the way Ted has significantly calmed down since she reached out, Emma bets they can make it a regular thing.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm thinking about making this into a series, a 5 Times type thing (5 Times Emma and Ted were nice to each other, something like that) but I'm not sure if anyone would read it. Let me know in the comments if it's something you'd like to see!
> 
> Thanks for reading, stay safe :)


End file.
